Staff Member

Dave12308 posted the following in a recent thread and the article he included gave me a completely different perspective on the incidence of airpush ads. Read the article he links to about AirPush and voice your opinion.

Prior to reading this article, I got rid of any app where it caused me to get ads in my notification status area. They were scary (thought it could have been a virus or hack) and an annoyance. But after reading this article, I can see a benefit to these ads rather than the ads embedded in the apps. I am all for free apps and install a free version whenever possible knowing it will come with ads. But sometimes these ads bog down the app making it lag. Having the ads show up in your status bar is an alternative to those ads embedded in your app and slowing it down. And, of course, if we want free apps, we need to support the developers so ads are necessary. What does everyone think? If ads are necessary,which would you prefer, ads embedded in the app, in the status bar or an icon in your home screen?

Thanks Dave, for the article and the new perspective.

Dave12308 said:

I'm not 100% sure how it's done, but there is a way to opt-out of the ads served up by Airpush. I think we need to get used to airpush, as it's very dev friendly and it does present a viable alternative to intrusive in-app ads. Without things like airpush and in-app ads, we wouldn't be able to have free apps at all, at least not free apps with any quality. The thing about Airpush is developers get paid, and it costs them absolutely nothing to implement. 100% of their earnings go to them. Here's a link to an interesting interview with the Airpush developers:

I suspect that the same people who complain about Airpush also complain about rich media advertising within the app (it's pretty annoying in the free version of Angry Birds, and negatively affects framerate). Well, the advertising has to go SOMEWHERE.

I too was turned off by air push ads thinking they were spam or malware. I'm still not crazy about them. I'd rather have the ads in the app but I also understand that the developers have to make a living too. I'm willing to accept the in app ads but the air push still bother me. And the new icon ads they talked about in the story, no way will I accept them. I am very picky about what and where apps are on my home screens. I'll take air push over icon ads any day of the week.

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Staff Member

Yes, I thought of them as evil. Most ads inside the app do not phase me. I come to not notice them unless they do slow down my app. This could be something developers include in their description. Ie. "For ultimate performance, the free version of this app includes airpush ads that will display in your status bar instead of inside the app."

A lot of times apps have paid versions which are mostly ad free. If you download the free version, then you'll most likely encounter ads.

I work at an Ad Network and in my capacity I speak to a lot of developers. The general opinion is that obviously the negative feedback is not something they want let alone uninstalls. But they also need to get paid for their hard work. Users complain about banner ads and they complain about Push ads. But the fact is that by putting up with these ads, you can pay the developer without spending even $0.99.

I'd perhaps prefer the same if ads were always in my face or interrupting my activity on the app. For example, some apps have ads that keep popping up and that really does bother me. I'd prefer to make the purchase in that case.

But if the ads show up before or after or even during the usage on a banner somewhere, then I'm okay with that.

I can understand why they put a lot of ads. The average earning of a developer on banner ads averages around $0.50 - $1.00 CPM (1000 impressions). You can see that the earnings are not so glamorous especially for those apps that do not get much traffic. This is precisely why developers choose to put more ads and also work with Push Notifications - the CPMs for Push Ads actually start with $3 in almost all cases.

Staff Member

I'd perhaps prefer the same if ads were always in my face or interrupting my activity on the app. For example, some apps have ads that keep popping up and that really does bother me. I'd prefer to make the purchase in that case.

But if the ads show up before or after or even during the usage on a banner somewhere, then I'm okay with that.

I can understand why they put a lot of ads. The average earning of a developer on banner ads averages around $0.50 - $1.00 CPM (1000 impressions). You can see that the earnings are not so glamorous especially for those apps that do not get much traffic. This is precisely why developers choose to put more ads and also work with Push Notifications - the CPMs for Push Ads actually start with $3 in almost all cases.

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I agree 100%. I do not mind ads that show up before or after I open the app or ones with a running banner at the top or bottom. I don't like it when they show up in my notification bar and I definitely do not want them to appear as an icon on my home screen. The absolute best use of ads that I have experienced is my mobility ware spider solitaire. When you open the app, it shows you a full screen ad before it starts the game. You can exit out of the ad immediately if you want and go directly to the game. But I actually do pay attention to the ads sometimes depending on the content. I do fully agree that we need to support our app developers either by paying for the app or accepting the ads but some ad styles that are too intrusive I just uninstall.

I agree 100%. I do not mind ads that show up before or after I open the app or ones with a running banner at the top or bottom. I don't like it when they show up in my notification bar and I definitely do not want them to appear as an icon on my home screen. The absolute best use of ads that I have experienced is my mobility ware spider solitaire. When you open the app, it shows you a full screen ad before it starts the game. You can exit out of the ad immediately if you want and go directly to the game. But I actually do pay attention to the ads sometimes depending on the content. I do fully agree that we need to support our app developers either by paying for the app or accepting the ads but some ad styles that are too intrusive I just uninstall.

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We're on the same page then.

We use a few Android devices at work to test Push Notifications and what not..and we work with apps that only do Push Notifications so the entire Ad experience for the user remains outside of the app...this results in users not being taken away because of the ads and also, it gives a better app experience....when the user goes back to the Notification bar and sees those ads, they can be dismissed...unless one I have 20 apps with Push Ads on my phone and I'd be bothered by 40 notifications daily, I really don't have a problem...and well..sometimes an app is worth it....

I remember playing a game called Contract Killer...it had its in app purchases ads that'd show up each time you came back from a mission...along with ads of other apps...didn't enjoy that BUT - the game was way too captivating

I dont mind the adds in the apps but anything that puts anything on the notification bar or Icons on the home screen get deleted immediately. No matter what it is.
Bottom line is my phone is a productivity tool & as soon as I have to start taking my time to remove stuff from adds the app is gone.